His patients are living works of art – brilliantly painted Picassos that swim in elaborate ponds and fetch up to $70,000 a piece. When disease strikes, the fallout can be disastrous, costing koi keepers in Oregon and around the world hundreds of thousands of dollars.

One half of a two-man SWAT team called in to render medical support for ornamental fish, Oregon State University’s Tim Miller-Morgan is a Sea Grant Extension veterinarian for aquatic pets, based at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.